The Battle Ground Series: Books 1-3

by Rachel Churcher

  “She might have found out if she hadn’t chosen the wrong day to play recruit.”

  He’s right. A spy in the camp during the weapons test – that has to be more than a coincidence.

  This has all happened so fast. The test, emptying the camp, the prisoner, the reporting, Martial Law – and Ellman’s escape committee. There has to be something more going on here. Doesn’t there?

  I kick my heels against the table in frustration. “There’s something we’re not seeing. Something about this that we haven’t worked out yet. There’s a link, somewhere, between the test and the prisoner. The test and the breakout. But I can’t see it.”

  “Maybe it’s random. Maybe the terrorists were in town, so they sent someone into camp while they were here. Coming to town made the town a target, so the weapons test happened.” He shrugs. “Nothing more than that.”

  “Maybe. But the prisoner knew Ellman and Pearce. That can’t be a coincidence. Can it?”

  He shrugs again. “You’re obsessing. There’s no conspiracy. The kids just got lucky this morning.”

  I need to think about this. I need to figure out how everything fits together.

  I grin at him across the table. “You know the most important part of this?”

  “What’s that?”

  I drop my feet to the floor and lean over the table towards him.

  “Jackson’s lost his puppy!”

  “Shut up!”

  “Jackson’s lost his favourite puppy.” He scowls at me. “Your sleepy puppy ran away! Who will you find to look after now?”

  He holds up the training schedule we’ve put together. “Don’t you have work to do? I think you need to take this to your favourite commander.”

  I stand up, take the papers from his hand, and walk out, ruffling his hair as I go.

  Answers

  Bracken has heard from HQ. I can tell as soon as I walk into the building. Woods is busy in the outer office, talking to someone on the phone and looking through personnel files. He waves me through to the commander’s office.

  “Ketty. Take a seat.”

  I put the schedule plans on Bracken’s desk and sit down.

  “You’ve heard from HQ?”

  “I have.”

  “So what’s the plan? How much trouble are we in?”

  Bracken puts his elbows on the desk and steeples his fingers.

  “I’m not entirely sure”, he says, looking me in the eye.

  I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t.

  “So … what does that mean?”

  He looks down, and pulls a sheet of paper from a file in front of him.

  “We’ve been told to continue with business as usual.”

  “What …?”

  He waves a hand to stop me.

  “We’ve been told to continue training the recruits, as if nothing has happened.”

  “But we’re under Martial Law! They’re taking the recruits!”

  “Not our recruits. Our recruits are staying here. Any of our recruits could be part of a terrorist conspiracy, or a terrorist cell, or just part of Ellman’s secret gang, so the army doesn’t want them. We’re stuck with them.”

  Of course we are. Here, Bracken – keep your broken camp. Just keep your head down and stay out of our way.

  “And what about the breakout? Are we still locked down?”

  He shakes his head.

  “We can come and go as usual. The recruits can go out on their daily runs. We can take deliveries. The kids can leave their dorms.”

  There’s a note of wonder in his voice, and I realise that he doesn’t understand this, any more than I do.

  “It would be useful if you could plan a new route for the morning run, though. One that doesn’t go into town.”

  I nod. “Absolutely. I’ll get that sorted.”

  He looks at his watch.

  “I think we should get the recruits back into their routine, as quickly as possible.” He looks at me. “Assemble them in the dining room. The kitchen staff will be bringing lunch over in a few minutes. I’ll come and explain things to them.”

  “What about Brown and Taylor?”

  He thinks for a moment. “Let them sit tight in the empty dorm for now. See if they decide to tell us anything else. Send them back to their dorms tomorrow.”

  I sit up straight in my chair, unable to hide my anger.

  “No consequences? They nearly absconded from camp, and they helped the others get away!”

  Bracken shrugs. “HQ says to leave them alone.”

  “So that’s it? Nothing changes, even after what happened in town? We just sit here and pretend that everything is normal?”

  “Woods is arranging a new kitchen supervisor. We’re keeping the recruits. Life goes on – until HQ decides to tell me what they’re planning to do with us, long term.”

  So there’s more to this than they’re letting on.

  “You think there’s a plan?”

  He nods. “I think this is too good an opportunity to waste. I think they’re going to use these kids. I think they’re going to use us. And when they do, we need to be ready. We need to exceed their expectations, and we need to prove to them that we can handle what they’ve got planned.” He looks at me, watching my face. “Do you think we can do that?”

  It’s the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.

  I can’t hide my smile.

  “Yes, Sir. I think we can.”

  AUGUST

  Problem

  The commander and I meet every day to discuss the recruits and their training, and keep track of our instructions from HQ. For a week, nothing changes. We’re expected to keep to our normal schedule. Keep the kids fit, keep building their skills, keep them busy. HQ wants reports on any suspicious behaviour, and any troublesome recruits.

  So we carry on as if nothing has happened. Morning run, gun practice, assault course, briefing sessions. The kids seem relieved – this is the life they know, these are the people they know. They’ve been given the chance to stay and improve their skills, and the repetition keeps them focused on their training. Repetition is easy for us, too. We get on with running our usual training sessions, I get used to looking away when I see empty bottles in Bracken’s office.

  A week after the lockdown, I’m running a briefing session scripted by HQ. The recruits are in the dining room. Brown has found herself a new group to sit with – all girls, who seem to find her sudden celebrity interesting. Taylor sits at an empty table alone, arms crossed defensively in front of him, eyes to the floor, his hair covering his face. He sits like this at every briefing session, and he never speaks. I have no idea why we’re pandering to these two, and not keeping them locked up, but that’s what HQ wants.

  “Tiny fighters. Today we are talking about the terrorists. In his book The Art of War, Sun Tzu says ‘know your enemy’. We can’t fight the terrorists if we don’t know who they are, or what their aims are.

  “So. What do we know about the terrorists?”

  Woods has found a flip chart and a set of pens for me, and HQ wants me to make a list of things we know, and don’t know, about the enemy.

  I wait for the recruits to make suggestions, but they sit in silence.

  “Anyone? Something we know about the terrorists.”

  One of the girls at Brown’s table raises her hand.

  “Yes.”

  “They murdered everyone in town.”

  “OK.” I write her contribution on the flip chart.

  Wrong already.

  “Anyone else? Shout out what you know.”

  “They want to destroy the country.”

  “They want to kill everyone who doesn’t agree with them.”

  “They hate us.”

  “They hate freedom.”

  “They want to take over the government.”

  “They don’t care what we think.”

  Their answers are coming faster than I can write. HQ would be pleased.

  “Anything else
? Where are they?”

  “We don’t know. They could be anywhere.”

  ‘Hiding’, I write.

  Spot on, kid. Thanks to Brown and Taylor, we have no idea.

  “What weapons do they use?”

  “Bombs.”

  “Against who?”

  “Ordinary people.”

  “Civilian targets. Correct. Is that a brave way to fight?”

  “It makes them cowards!”

  “We’ve been out there in our armour, in public, while they sneak around. That’s not very honest.” One of Brown’s new friends, whining.

  “It’s not a fair fight!” Another girl from Brown’s table.

  You have no idea.

  “We’re out there protecting the public. They’re out there killing them.”

  “Which makes you,” I turn away from the flip chart and point around the room, “all of you, the good guys. You’re fighting to protect ordinary people. When you manage to remember your gun skills, and you do up your shoelaces and put your armour on properly to go on patrol, you’re keeping people safe.”

  There’s a murmur in the room as they realise that I’ve just paid them a compliment.

  Don’t get used to it, tiny fighters. I’m only doing what HQ wants me to do.

  “So. That’s what we do know.” I fold the list over the top of the flip chart and expose a blank sheet of paper. “What don’t we know?”

  “What they want.”

  “Really? We know they want to bring down the government, destroy the country, take away our freedom. What don’t we know?”

  “What their plans are. What they want to do instead.”

  “Good. Keep shouting out.”

  “Why they’re fighting us.”

  “Where they’re hiding.”

  “How many there are.”

  I turn round in surprise. That was Taylor.

  “Recruit Taylor! Nice of you to join in today.” He’s looking at the floor again, pretending to ignore me. “You made a good point. We don’t know how many terrorists there are, but the fact that they crawl around in the shadows and use bombs instead of guns suggests that there aren’t very many of them, don’t you think? It suggests that they’re afraid of us, and our soldiers.”

  There’s a pause, and everyone in the room is watching him. This is the first time he’s spoken in a training session since the lockdown.

  He looks up at me through his curtain of hair, and smirks.

  “They got four new recruits last week, didn’t they? Who knows how many people are joining them? They could be hiding an army, for all you know.”

  Any other recruit, and I’d be putting them on report. Sending them to Commander Bracken. Demanding press-ups or taking away meal privileges. But with Taylor and Brown, my hands are tied. HQ wants us to ignore subversive behaviour from the would-be terrorists. We’re supposed to carry on as if nothing happened, and report back on anything they say or do.

  But the temptation to drag him out of his chair and remind him how lucky he is to be alive is very hard to resist. I bite my tongue, and try to control the situation.

  “I think that’s unlikely. Don’t you? Don’t you think we would have seen more terrorist activity if they had some sort of secret army?”

  He smirks again. “Like you said, they wiped out an entire town, didn’t they?”

  There’s a gasp from the other recruits. They’re watching Taylor talk back to a Senior Recruit, and they’re seeing no punishment. It must be obvious to all of them that this isn’t business as usual. Worse, they think I can’t touch him.

  I’m the Lead Recruit. I’m the name the other Senior Recruits use to keep these kids in line. Taylor is publicly showing them all that my power is a myth. That I can’t do anything to stop him.

  My fists are clenched and I’ve taken a step towards him before Commander Bracken’s voice cuts through my anger, and I step back to the flip chart.

  “Recruits!”

  He’s been standing at the door. I have no idea how long he’s been watching, but I’m grateful that he chooses that moment to step in. The kids rush to stand up, screeching their chairs out from the tables. Taylor doesn’t move.

  “Sir!”

  “Enough for today. Lead Recruit Smith, please stick the lists on the wall, so everyone here can read through them at their leisure.”

  “Yes, Sir.” I’m surprised how calm I sound.

  “Recruits – return to your dormitories. You may take the next hour to read quietly, or rest. I don’t want to hear conversation. I don’t want to hear any sound at all. You may return to the dining room in one hour for dinner. Dismissed.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  The recruits glance at each other, and slowly make their way out of the dining room. We’ve never cut short a training session before. Free time gives them a chance to think, and assess what they’re doing here. Commander Bracken tries to avoid giving them time to themselves, and they don’t know what to make of this change to their schedule.

  Taylor stands up and slouches towards the door, last to leave the room. Brown looks back at him before she leaves, but she doesn’t try to talk to him.

  At least one of you understands how to blend in and stay out of trouble.

  “Ketty. With me.” Bracken nods towards the door. I gather up the flip chart pens and follow him from the building. Jackson and Miller are waiting in the corridor, standing guard and making sure the kids don’t start a riot before dinner.

  “Rough briefing?” whispers Jackson as I walk past. I shrug, not trusting myself to speak, and it takes all my self-control to keep my fists down and keep walking when I notice the smirk on Miller’s face.

  You think you could do better? Think again, techie boy.

  Trap

  “You know what else Sun Tzu said?”

  I’ve followed the commander to his office, and we’re sitting across his desk from each other. He’s poured himself a whisky, which I’m pointedly ignoring. I’m still trying to control my breathing and force myself to stay calm.

  I shake my head.

  “I was just using the script. I don’t know who Sun Tzu is.”

  “Was. Chinese military strategist, two and a half thousand years ago. Generals still study his writing today.”

  I shrug. “OK.”

  “It’s true that he said you should know your enemy. He also said that ‘all warfare is based on deception’.”

  I think about that for a moment. “That’s obvious, isn’t it?”

  The commander smiles.

  “On one level, it is. You don’t want your enemy to know what you’re planning. You don’t want them to know your numbers or your strengths. That’s why both sides use spies – to try to find out the truth.

  “But there’s more to it than that. You and I know things that other people here don’t. We have privileged information. We need to make sure we keep that information a secret – and not just the information, but the very fact that there is any secret information.”

  I nod, cautiously, glancing at the drink in front of him. What are you getting at, Bracken?

  “The deception isn’t all directed towards the enemy. Sometimes we need to withhold information from our own side. Tell them what they need to hear – not necessarily what they want to know.”

  “Sure. I haven’t discussed the weapons test, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Partly. But we also need to be the messengers for HQ. We need to deliver the briefings they send us, and we need to give those briefings as if we completely agree with them, whatever they say, and whatever we know.”

  I think back over this afternoon’s session.

  “That would be much easier if our two terrorist sympathisers were still locked up,” I protest, watching his reaction.

  He nods once in agreement.

  “Our hands are certainly tied where Taylor and Brown are concerned.”

  “And there’s nothing we can do?”

  “We can report their behaviour ba
ck to HQ. I’ll be giving them a full report on Taylor’s disruptive episode later – and on Brown’s willingness to knuckle down and stay out of trouble.”

  He watches me for a moment, studying my face. I feel like a sample under a microscope. Is he testing me?

  “You’ve heard something, haven’t you?” I lean forward. “Something from HQ?”

  He takes a drink from his whisky. He says nothing for a long moment, and then nods.

  Finally.

  “What did they say? What’s the plan?”

  “This is Top Secret, Ketty. You, me, and Woods. No one else on site can know.”

  “OK.”

  “Can I trust you with this? Do you have your frustration under control, or will I have to step in again and stop you from assaulting a recruit?”

  I take a deep breath.

  “Sorry, Sir. Yes. You can trust me.”

  He nods.

  “HQ wants us to catch some terrorists.”

  “Us? The recruits?”

  This is insane. The tiny fighters couldn’t catch a terrorist if they handed themselves in at the gate. We couldn’t even stop our homegrown terrorists from stealing our vehicle and our supplies.

  He smiles. “We’re going to use the recruits as bait.”

  “We’re … what?”

  “Well – their armour, anyway.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He puts his elbows on the desk and leans towards me.

  “HQ is going to send us out on patrol. As many patrols as it takes. We’ll take a coach full of kids, and a luggage compartment full of armour and guns.”

  So far, so normal. I wait for him to continue.

  “We give the recruits plenty of notice. Who is going, where they’re going, when they’ll be travelling. And we wait to see whether the terrorists track us down.”

  “How is telling the kids going to get the information to the terrorists?”

  “That’s how we’ll start. HQ wants to see whether there’s anyone at camp who’s still in touch with Ellman and her friends.”

  I think about Brown and Taylor. If he’s in contact with them, he’s a better actor than I thought. Brown, though – obeying the rules and keeping her head down would be the perfect cover for a spy.